Deputy foreign minister Feim Chaoushev has been accused of using two first names, one to do business and one for his political activity. Tema weekly magazine, which broke the news, claimed he even had identification papers for both names.

Under the Bulgarian name of Petar Chaoushev, the one written in his Bulgarian personal identification documents, he is part of the management of the companies Dyuni, Aspo Star, IVG Immobilien Verwaltungs-Gesellschaft and Wilfried Euler – Sofia.

However, the deputy minister did not include his participation in those companies in his assets declaration, since he submitted it under the name of Feim Chaoushev, the name by which he is known to the public and under which his diplomatic passport has been issued.

Worse yet, Dyuni is linked with Pernik businessman Lyudmil Stoikov, who was arrested in 2007 on charges of defrauding 7.5 million euro worth of funds under the European Union Sapard pre-accession aid programme, although he was later released.

No direct reference has been made to the case, though the European Commission froze Sapard payments last month, citing suspicions of fraud.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin kept out of the row and refused to comment on the issue, saying Chaoushev himself would answer all media questions when he was back from official business in Africa.

“The declaration Chaoushev has filed is a personal declaration, under which he is not responsible before his administrative chief. The responsibility here is under an other law and is sought by other institutions. As I am responsible for my own declaration, everyone should be responsible for theirs,” Kalfin said.